Love is a Merry Go Round
by Crimzy
Summary: Ichigo finds a special gift for Rukia on a special day. Little does he know how love tends to repeat itself. Written for an IchiRuki Drabble Challenge.


**Love is a Merry-Go-Round**

By: Crim

Disclaimer: All characters belong to Kubo Tite.

Author's Notes: This was written for the 7 Day Drabble Challenge at the IchiRuki Community on LiveJournal. The theme was a carousel.

--

A peaceful dinner at the Kurosaki household didn't last long when its patriarch jumped from his seat and lunged a kick to his son who just came home. "You are late, my foolish son!" The force of the kick caused Ichigo to drop the plastic bag he was holding. Ichigo gasped once the contents of the bag slid through the floor and ended up by Karin's chair. He didn't even bother giving his asinine father a counterattack. He tried to reach for it desperately, but Karin picked it up. She held up a rectangular box wrapped with bunny printed paper and a frilly bow.

Yuzu caught a glimpse of it and her eyes sparkled. "It's so pretty!"

"So. Who's it for, Ichi-nii?" Karin tauntingly waved the box around in front of her big brother. Ichigo's face turned red and swiped the present from his sister's hand.

"Could it be?! It's for Rukia-chan, isn't it?!" The hyperactive father went into a "rabu-rabu" seizure and threw himself at the giant poster of his wife. "Oh, my dear Masaki! Our son is a romantic!" His intense state of euphoria was interrupted with a boot to the face and further inflictions of pain that left poor Isshin knocked out for the rest of the night.

"Would you cut that out?!" The orange-haired teen was torn between feeling completely enraged and embarrassed. After all, Rukia was sitting at the table the whole time. Not only did she have to see his dad act like a complete idiot… _again_… but his chance to give her his present in private was ruined. Ichigo tried to stop his body from shaking or at least make it less obvious. He stood in front of Rukia who sat there staring up at her tall companion. She was handed a gift in front of the whole family.

Rukia reached for the present, satisfied enough with its cute wrapping paper. She was speechless and carefully peeled off the paper. Under all the layers was a night light carousel. It had stencil-like cut outs in the shape of bunnies, hearts, and stars. She discovered a switch at the top and upon pressing it, her face lit up in awe at how the bunnies circled around the cylindrical toy. Music played as it revolved. The light from the carousel passed through the stencils and the bunnies' silhouettes appeared on Rukia's shirt.

"Oh… I see. Since it's a night light, the lit shadows of the bunnies and hearts will appear all around the room once it's completely dark," Yuzu was captivated by the toy too.

"Ichigo…" Rukia whispered. Her lips couldn't form with the words to express her gratitude.

--

Dinner was over and Rukia settled herself on the floor of Ichigo's room. It was nice not having to hide anymore. She forced Ichigo to turn off the lights so she can sit and watch her carousel cast patterns of light around the room. There was still one thing she needed to know. Her bored benefactor had his back to her and was lying down with his arm supporting his head.

"Ichigo, why did you get this for me?" She finally averted her eyes away from the lit carousel.

"Do I need a reason? It just looked like something you would like." He said as he scratched his nose. "And… it's been a year since I met you, Rukia. And I'm thankful."

Rukia's blue-violet eyes widened. _So, he remembered too._ "But you saved me from execution and numerous times after that. There's no need for you to—"

"I _wanted to. _I'll be indebted to you for life, but it's more like… I'm thankful for having met you in the first place, Rukia." His voice slowly dwindled after each sentence.

Rukia held her hand close to her chest. It felt like her heart almost skipped a beat after hearing that. She froze, unsure of how to respond. Her hand crept up onto Ichigo's broad shoulder, but the arm that was anchoring his upper body had collapsed and he lay there asleep on the floor. The soothing melodies from the carousel took its toll on Ichigo and Rukia's eyelids were also starting to feel heavy. She crawled over to Ichigo and held his hand. "I'll always be thankful for that day… Ichigo…" Her body succumbed to her gift's lullaby and drifted off to asleep with a natural smile on her face.

Unbeknownst to the sleeping couple, Isshin stood by the partially open door watching over them. He looked closely as he noticed how Ichigo's hand tightened its grip with Rukia's.

"A merry-go-round. Look, Masaki, our son has fallen in love with a Shinigami too."

End.


End file.
